Collapsible portable shelters which can be transported through ISO container shipping channels are useful for military or civilian projects of short duration or projects which are sufficiently remote that on-site construction is uneconomical. The present applicant has developed a collapsible portable containerized shelter sold commercially under the trade-mark MECC (“Mobile Expandable Container Configuration”) which is the subject of prior U.S. Pat. No. 5,761,854 issued Jun. 9, 1998 and which is incorporated herein by reference. That patent discloses a portable, collapsible shelter comprising a) a rigid, hollow container having opposed vertical sides, and a horizontal top and bottom, the container having the dimensions and characteristics which satisfy the standards for ISO shipping containers; b) at least one of the vertical sides comprising a pivoting wall portion hinged along the lower edge thereof to pivot between a closed vertical position and an open horizontal position; c) means for releasably securing the pivoting wall portion in the vertical position; d) means for releasably maintaining the pivoting wall portion in the horizontal position; e) a flexible fabric cover adapted to be extended above said pivoting wall portion while the pivoting wall portion is in the lowered horizontal position; and f) means for supporting the fabric cover above the hinged vertical side while the pivoting wall portion is in the lowered horizontal position.
The MECC container can be transported through the usual ISO shipping channels, whether ship, rail or truck. It is stacked or loaded using forklift or crane. While the expanded MECC container has three times the floor area of the standard ISO container, its height remains the same, namely 2.6 m. (8.5 feet) or 2.9 m. (9.5 feet). For some applications it would be desirable to have a shelter which can be shipped as a standard ISO container but can be expanded into a shelter or storage facility with increased height in addition to or instead of increased floor area.
The foregoing examples of the related art and limitations related thereto are intended to be illustrative and not exclusive. Other limitations of the related art will become apparent to those of skill in the art upon a reading of the specification and a study of the drawings.